VW News: Volkswagen Isn't Giving Up On Sedans

[William Maley]

Ford's decision to drop most of their passenger car lineup last week is still sending shockwaves, and likely causing various automakers to have discussions about if they should follow in their footsteps. One automaker that will not be following Ford is Volkswagen.

“We are intending to be a full line car manufacturer,” said Volkswagen of America CEO Hinrich Woebcken.

The reason as to why? Electric Vehicles.

“The question of whether electric mobility will favor sedans or SUVs hasn’t been answered yet. When you’re talking about electric cars, sedans have more advantages. The shape and the [drag coefficient] has a high effect on range. Therefore, we’ll maybe see a higher sedan share on full electric cars than with conventional cars,” said Woebcken.

Aside from EVs, Volkswagen still sees sedans as an important key to their U.S. plans. The new Jetta and Arteon will be arriving in dealers very soon, and a new Passat is expected to debut next year.

That said, Woebcken says crossovers will become a big part of Volkswagen's U.S. Current plans have the automaker launching at least two new crossovers over the next few years.

“The shift from sedans to SUVs is a permanent one. In former times, when gas prices went up people moved back to sedans. We believe this will not happen anymore for two reasons. First, the difference in fuel economy between SUVs and sedans is not so big anymore. Second, customers do not want to give up the high seating position. I believe that trend will not reverse.”

Source: Digital Trends

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[riviera74]

It matters that VW is doing this because of Europe, not the United States.  If their primary market was the US, then they might make that consideration.  Remember, Ford has the F-series and VW does not.

[daves87rs]

Sedans are never really going to go away, I do would not trust trends....

With prices so high for the trucks/SUV/CUV, people might start thinking twice about another new one...sedans offer a choice many can afford.Might be smart to have both just based on that....

[G. David Felt]

I hope GM / Ford wake up to the need to have a couple cars, but also the need to have cheap CUV's in the low end that would replace cheap cars.

[riviera74]

Given current regulations, a cheap car (around $10K) and a cheap CUV (around $12K) would sell like hotcakes and cripple the used car market.  Only problem is is that I suspect that automakers will pocket the profits by charging $3K more on top.